VISTA Gardens raises seedlings for gardeners to transplant into their VISTA raised garden beds this year on September 20-21 (heat tolerant plants) and on October 18-19 (cooler weather plants).
Packets of seeds are available year-round.
July 31 is the deadline to order your seedlings.
Broccoli and Broccolini
Marathon
Central Head Variety
Traditional variety with familiar heavy heads of broccoli best to grow later in the season. Transplant this one in October! Intermediate resistance to downy mildew and highly tolerant to cold. If it freezes this winter, this broccoli will taste sweeter. After harvesting the central head, gardeners can continually harvest smaller side shoots for salad, stir fry, smoothie and side dishes.
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Eggplant
Icicle
Italian Variety
This All-America Selections (AAS) Winner in 2022 bears cylindrical 7 inches long fruit uniform in size that typically weigh 7.7 ounces. The fruits stay pure white, without yellowing and have improved texture and flavor. Resistant to inset and environmental damage and tolerant of heat.
Kale
Nero Di Toscana
This very tender and juicy variety is called palm kale because the plant looks just like a little palm tree. It is also known as dinosaur, Lacinato or Tuscan kale. A hardy, non-heading variety that produces juicy, very tender and delicious dark green leaves. Harvest young for best flavor.
Dwarf Blue Curled
Heavily crinkled leaves make fine kale chips and hold up well after harvest. 12-14" high plants with a wide spread of plumage. Slow to bolt, cold hardy & overwinters well.
Grows best in well-drained soil with compost and available nutrients like nitrogen. Add compost to ensure that the seedlings will have food immediately available to them once transplanted. Avoid planting where any member of the cabbage family grew the year before.
Pepper
California Wonder
Sweet
Vigorous, disease resistant, heavy bearing plant with thick-walled 4 inches tall and wide fruit, with a crisp, mild flavor and terrific sweetness. They mature from green to red on the plant, and are ideal for stuffing, slicing into rings for dips and salad toppings, and chopping into crisp bite-sized nibbles.
Sweet Banana
Sweet
Prolific Italian variety prized for its gigantic sweet red fruits. Delicious 12" long 3” across (at shoulders) peppers are ideal for stir-fry, grilling and enjoying raw in salads. An early variety known for its high yields.
Named for its banana-like shape, this variety bears sweet, mild banana peppers that mature from yellow, to orange, and then to crimson red. Plants fruit prolifically, easily producing up to 25 to 30 pods per plant. Banana peppers are great for frying and pickling.
Tomato
Sweet Million
Small Fruit
Large clusters of smooth, bright, miniature fruit arise all summer long on this classic variety. A garden treasure that always turns out big harvests of sweet tomatoes, Sweet Million hybrid is considered a high performer based on testimonials of hundreds of customers as well as our own garden trials.
The bright red, 1- to 1 ½-inch globes are sweet and tender, arising plentifully on indeterminate plants resistant to fusarium wilt race 1, nematodes, tobacco mosaic virus, and leaf spot.
Pink Delicious
Large Fruit
With “Delicious” in its name, it has to be good! This early maturing tomato supports the trend of having heirloom look, flavor and texture with hybrid disease resistance and improved germination meaning it is much easier for home gardeners to grow. Higher yield and a very uniform fruit size. The beautiful big fruits do not crack as much. What really sets this variety apart is the excellent flavor and a high Brix for a sweeter than normal pink tomato. Bonus: Much better disease resistance than controls in the Southeast region.
Red Torch
Small Fruit
Red Torch is a striped oblong tomato with 1.5” long fruits that weigh about 1.5 ounces. This hybrid is a very prolific early-season producer combining excellent flavor, great texture, and high yields. Plants have been bred with excellent tolerance to environmental stresses like heat and harsh growing conditions. Fruits are borne on indeterminate vines that grow 5-6’ tall and ripen 60-70 days from transplanting. Judges were pleased with both the earliness and yield of this variety in addition to the unique skin coloration.
Brussel Sprouts
Long Island
Tall Type
Plants yield 50-100 dark green 1½ inch sprouts over an extended period. Transplant in late fall, as they require cool temperatures to develop firm, crunchy sprouts. Warm weather causes individual sprouts to be soft and open rather than solid and tightly packed. An ideal average temperature is around 58–60°F.
Collards
Transplant Dates*:
Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplants, Chinese Cabbage, Collards, Kale: September 20-21
Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage: October 18-19
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*Dates may shift somewhat, based on weather conditions, storm interruptions, etc. Watch for updates in VISTA Matters and related email blasts.​